Dear Hometown,
My entire life was spent wrapped up in you. My first steps, heartbreak, job, and everything in between were all experienced with you. I spent my whole life waiting to leave you, but now that I’m gone I realized how important you were to me. I thought you were a trap. I saw you as a hole that was suffocating me and my dreams, but now I see I was wrong. You weren’t holding me back from my dreams; you helped me create my dreams. You see you are not just a dot on the map, you’re everything that made me into the person I am today. At the time I didn’t know the gym packed full for a high school basketball game or the small food mart in town mattered but now I wish I could go back to every time I set foot into those places. You’re not just a town, you’re filled with people who would do anything for anyone who they meet.
The basketball games mattered because every weekend it would be nearly impossible to find an open seat. The entire community was packed in just to support the home team. It was always a given to run into someone you knew at the food mart. They always asked how you were and wished you a wonderful day. Graduation day opened my eyes to see how many people truly wished me the best and hope all my dreams come true. You see they aren’t just my dreams they are yours too. Every step of my life, every high, and every low you were right by my side. You taught me lessons that no big city ever could. You gave me a support system that was bigger than I could ever imagine. You gave me a school that cared for my success and dreams. You raised me, but most importantly you gave me a place to forever call home.
Even though my dreams were too big to fulfill with you, I owe you everything for leading me on the path I am on. No matter how crazy my life gets, how old I get, or how much I change over the years you never will. You will always be my familiar face, my memories I created, and everything I am. You will always be my home.
